To the man with only a hammer, everything is a nail.

Hammer

(image from sweetpeabicycles.com)

Truthfully, this is a fairly common theme and I’m sure everyone reading this already understands the concept here. So, I want to look at this from a “slightly” different direction.  Right now, name 3 tools that you are using. Do it. I’ll wait.

OK, so you either named 3 tools you are currently using, or you didn’t, or you said to yourself, I’m not using any tools right now. Well, here’s my answer. I am currently using WordPress, FireFox and a keyboard. Pretty normal, right? However, I could just as well be using Blogger, Chrome and a video camera. OR… Facebook, Safari and Dragon Naturally Speaking.

Here’s my point, and my different angle. Start looking at what people build. Be it a webpage, a blog site, a community, a persona, a gallery, a portfolio, whatever, and find what you like. Let’s take an example. I’ll find a website I really like the layout of. I may even want to copy elements of it for a client or myself. I know the tools I use and am comfortable with and I’ll start using those tools to try and make a similar widget or layout or whatever. I usually find myself with a pale imitation or something that just isn’t quite right with it.

I’m telling you to take a different tack. When you find something you like, go find the author, the creator, the designer, and ASK THEM what tools they used. Don’t assume you know how they built it. All too often when we find something, we make the assumption that we have found a nail that we can use because we have our trusty hammer. It’s not that we have the wrong tool, it’s that we failed to identify the object. That’s not a nail, it’s a ceramic vase. I don’t need a hammer, I need a kiln!

It’s a subtle, but in my opinion, very different way to start looking at things. Your tools don’t create “things”, YOU create “things” with tools. It’s the “things” that should drive you. Your toolbox should not be finite. Yes, this does put a little bit of extra pressure on you to learn a few more tools, or make some new friends how already know how to use the tools you need, but you will find that the end results are well worth it.

Leave me a comment and tell me what you think? Do I have a screw loose? Let me know your thoughts. Also, let me know what tools you are an expert with. You never know, I may need that tool someday and then I can say, hey, I know someone….